BJP-Sena will retain power in BMC: Gadkari

Though missing from the campaigns in Mumbai and Thane, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president, Nitin Gadkari, is confident that the saffron alliance will retain power in both the civic bodies. Pradip Kumar Maitra reports.

Though missing from the campaigns in Mumbai and Thane, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president, Nitin Gadkari, is confident that the saffron alliance will retain power in both the civic bodies.

Gadkari has been focused on campaigning for the Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttaranchal, Goa and Manipur. “I had to focus on campaigning for the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) elections. Based on the feedback, I can confidently say that our alliance will retain power in civic bodies in the state,” said Gadkari.

Accusing the Congress-led state government of obstructing the development projects, he said: “Over 50 proposed cement roads approved by the NMC’s standing committee have been pending before the municipal commissioner for years. If Sena-BJP comes to power in the state, we will give equal importance to all the civic bodies.”

The stakes are high for the party and Gadkari who aims to contest the 2014 general elections. “I announced my ambition to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Nagpur to prove all those who doubted my credentials wrong,” he said.

Gadkari claimed that his party would retain power in the NMC with a comfortable majority. Terming the Uttar Pradesh elections as a three-way contest between the BSP, SP and the BJP, Gadkari ruled out ‘any sign of Rahul Gandhi’s charisma’. “We will reach close to forming a government by winning over 125 seats,” he said.